


An Indecent Promposal

by boylebingo



Category: Never Have I Ever (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Except like that’s partially already happened here?, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Post-Finale, Prom, Slow Burn, but there is for sure some Tension (TM), they are a little dumb about each other but thats why we love them, theyre definitely not like enemy-enemies still at the beginning of this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:28:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24283612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boylebingo/pseuds/boylebingo
Summary: Devi sat down next to her friends in the cafeteria with a look of determination evident on her face.“I, Devi Vishwakumar, under no possible circumstances, will be attending prom by myself.”AKADevi comes up with a crazy plan to get a prom date in order to avoid dealing with her real feelings.
Relationships: Ben Gross/Devi Vishwakumar
Comments: 71
Kudos: 196





	1. wednesday, 9 days before prom

**Author's Note:**

> hi all! this is my first time posting on here and my first time writing anything like this in a looong time so my apologies if (let’s be honest: when) I’m a lil rusty :) 
> 
> To the best of my recollection this is canon compliant and as of right now I have no plans to make it otherwise. It takes place during Devi & Ben's junior year (Paxton is ab to graduate)
> 
> tbh Maitreyi was just talking about a potential school dance ep on Instagram live the other day and then this happened... so we’ll see how it goes. It also has nothing to do with the movie Indecent Proposal at all. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Devi sat down next to her friends in the cafeteria with a look of determination evident on her face.

“I, Devi Vishwakumar, under no possible circumstances, will be attending prom by myself.”

* * *

Up until yesterday, she might have even believed herself. She had finally gotten Paxton Hall-Yoshida, who was unquestionably the hottest person she or probably anyone had ever seen (even including Nick Jonas, but don’t let that get back to him) to go out with her towards the end of her sophomore year. Plus, she had even helped him pick out a tie that would go with her dress. Most importantly, there was no way that Ben and Shira were gonna beat them to be Prom King and Queen. She was as happy as she had been in a long time.

And then exactly 16 hours ago, back at his place, he sat up all of a sudden and said the one and only thing she was not prepared to hear:

“I think we should break up.”

Devi started to panic-ramble, barely processing the words coming out of either one of their mouths. “What? Why? Am I a bad kisser? Did I have too much garlic at lunch? I can cut out the garlic if -“

“No that’s definitely not it,” Paxton cut her off. “Honestly, you just seem like you’re in a kinda weird headspace right now. And I totally get it, with me graduating in a couple weeks, things were bound to start feeling weird pretty soon anyway. And at prom, we’ll have to take all these pictures together and then when we inevitably break up anyway we’ll have all of these sad memories around forever. So I think it’s probably just better to get it over with beforehand, yknow?”

But Devi did not know. “Well shit, Paxton, I didn’t realize that breaking up was so inevitable for you. I guess that means you’ve been planning this moment ever since we first started dating, huh? And to think I had finally convinced my friends that you actually weren’t a total douche.” She was barely holding back tears as she got up to leave.

“Hang on Devi, that’s not what I -“

But Devi was out the door before he could finish, her heart feeling irreparably damaged. She attempted to bike home, doing her best to avoid blurring her vision with tears so that she wouldn’t ride into a tree or do something else stupid that would manage to make her day even suckier than it had already been.

Except what actually happened was bound to be far worse than getting concussed by a maple, because the next thing she knew, the car that had been driving behind her started to honk and when she turned, she immediately recognized the tacky looking Porsche that was pulling over beside her.

* * *

“I was honestly hoping you were a catcaller,” Devi deadpanned. “I would have preferred being subject to gross misogyny to being forced to listen to whatever your brag of of the day happens to be. At least they would have called me hot while making me feel like garbage.”

“That’s really depressing, David,” Ben replied, “And I’m pretty sure kinda offensive? Besides I already proved I was better than you when you forgot the purpose of the third amendment in history today.” It took him until about halfway through that sentence to realize she was crying.

“Woah David, what’s up?”

Devi hesitated to tell him the truth, but she decided that his concern was kinda sweet even if he usually wasn’t, and so she fessed up.

“Me and Paxton broke up. Like a half hour ago.”

Ben let our a long sigh and she braved herself for whatever insult was about to be thrown in her direction.

“Paxton’s an idiot. Hop in, I’ll drive you the rest of the way back.”

There was a more logical version of Devi - the one that knew that getting into Ben Gross’ car was definitely a bad idea no matter her current state - who was urging her to get back on her bike and pedal away from him as fast as possible. But between the exhaustion she was feeling after 20 minutes of sobbing-with-breaks-for-pedaling and her shock at Ben’s temporary cease fire, logical Devi never stood a chance. She wiped her tears on her sleeve, crammed her bike into his trunk, and plopped down heavily next to him without saying a word.

* * *

She was immediately lost in thought. The fact was that what Paxton had said had kinda been right: her mind had been elsewhere lately. But if she was being honest, and she was too tired not to be honest, it had nothing to do with his impending graduation. In actuality, it was all Ben’s fault.

Things had been a little weird with him since they kissed in Malibu. Her mom had caught them, dragged her out of his car, and they hadn’t ever really talked about it again. Ben already had a girlfriend, and Devi started officially dating Paxton within a few weeks. They had finally started almost getting along, and it seemed stupid to both of them to ruin their newfound sorta-friendship by bringing up their also newfound sorta-feelings. Especially when they had been not-at-all-sorta-100% enemies for so long before then. So they both took the easier way out and pretended none of it had happened.

Recently, though, things had started to change. Shira had very publicly dumped Ben after school, exactly one week before yesterday. Apparently, some senior named Jake had turned out to be Steve Jobs’ grandson or something and he supposedly had just gotten some huge inheritance check, which meant that Ben was no longer the richest kid in school and therefore had no real value to Shira.

At least that’s what Jake told Shira. Frankly, Devi didn’t buy it. This school was a total rumor mill - there’s no way something that huge would have been kept a secret til now, right? The timing - two and a half weeks before prom - was just too convenient. Plus, Devi wasnt even sure that Steve Jobs had grandchildren - let alone ones that were older than her and living in town with nobody else knowing. But whether Jake was lying or not didn’t really matter. Shira - and half of his Instagram following - were suddenly out of the picture for Ben.

For Devi, this apparently meant that a bunch of deeply repressed feelings were coming to the surface. She had just been hoping that Paxton hadn’t noticed. So much for that plan.

* * *

Ben turned his head and looked at Devi expectantly. She’d been so lost in thought that she didn’t even realize he had broken their silence.

“Sorry, huh?” she asked blearily.

“I just said we’re at your house.” He nodded in the direction of her driveway.

“Oh shit Ben, I’m sorry. I was totally in a different world for a minute. See ya.” She reached for the car door.

“No, no it’s fine, wait,” Ben said, so she stopped. “I just wanted to say,” he sighed, looking like he hadn’t actually planned on Devi allowing him finish his sentence. “I’m... glad you let me drive you. You’re obviously having a pretty awful day and having a black eye in all your prom photos cuz you crashed your bike wouldn’t be a cute look. Just, uh, text me. If you need anything. I have some pretty recent experience in the breakup department so. Yknow.” He trailed off.

“Thanks,” she smiled at him, genuinely grateful for the ride. “It probably wouldn’t have mattered much since it seems like there’s not going to be any prom photos this year. But dude, don’t lie. You totally know I’d look cute as hell with or without the bruises.”

He smiled. “See you in school tomorrow, David.”

She got out of the car feeling noticeably lighter than when she had gotten in.

* * *

Devi had FaceTimed Eleanor and Fabiola to tell them what happened with Paxton as soon as she got home. They did their best not to say I told you so and she did her best not to let on the real reason things had been off for her lately.

Things hadn’t been entirely smooth sailing for Devi and her friends this year, but they had been doing much better lately, and on a night like this, she couldn’t be more glad to have them. Her mom called her for dinner and right before they hung up they promised that they’d all eat together tomorrow to try and cheer Devi up.

* * *

Which is why when she sat down to make her declaration to have a prom date that afternoon, they were a little hesitant.

“Babe, I love you, and you know I think any dummy at this school would be lucky to go to prom with you, but you and Paxton just broke up. Are you sure your not jumping in too fast?” Eleanor asked slowly.

“Yeah plus prom is literally a week and a half away. Everyone would totally get it if you showed up alone.” Fabiola added.

“Guys, I appreciate your concern, but don’t worry. I have a plan.” Devi was looking into the distance as she said this, with a mischievous grin on her face. Eleanor and Fabiola turned around to see what what table she was looking at. And sure enough, all by himself at a table on the opposite side of the cafeteria, they saw him too.

Ben Gross.


	2. thursday, 8 days before prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Devi turns to Ben to try and solve her problems, but realizes she’s probably just created a few more instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> Sorry it’s taken so long to update. I was pretty close to finishing this chapter when shit kinda hit the fan in the US and I’ve been preoccupied with trying to make sure I’m spending enough time focusing on that, so my editing fell by the wayside for a bit. But picking this back up has been just what I needed.
> 
> This chapter is hopefully what really gets the ball rolling! I hope you enjoy :) 
> 
> (And P.S. I’m not gonna promise that I’ll be better about updating but I do promise I’ll try haha)
> 
> P.P.S If you haven’t already, please take a look at [this resource](https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/) for more information about how to get involved with the BLM movement.

Devi is more nervous than she was expecting. She had been so confident about her plan when she explained it to Fab and El yesterday at lunch, but now that the time had come to actually act on it, things felt different.

But no matter how weirdly anxious she felt, she was not a quitter. So after history first period, she pulled Ben aside.

“So remember that time you let me stay in your house for a week and when I left I said that I totally owed you a big favor?”

“Hello to you too, David.”

“Ugh, I can’t believe you still call me that now that we’re not even nemeses anymore.” Devi was always pretty careful not to call them friends - it’s not that she didn’t think they weren’t, but she wasn’t exactly sure what Ben thought they were, so it was easier to define their relationship out loud by what they were not.

“True, but just because we’re not nemeses doesn’t mean it’s suddenly not fun to make you do that scrunched up nose thing that you always do when you’re just the tiniest bit mad at me.”

“I’m always the tiniest bit mad at you,” she retorted, smoothing out her facial features to spite him. “But whatever. That’s not why I wanted to talk.”

“I hear you owe me a favor?”

“Yes, and I know just what to do for you.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one deciding what favor you have to do for me?”

“No. Keep up, Gross.” She roller her eyes.

He chuckled. “Alright so what’s the plan?”

He was being more accommodating than she was expecting, and so she took a deep breath and looked up at him. “You’re taking me to prom next week.”

The slightest hint of a smirk seemed to appear on Bens face.

“Not gonna lie, David, that sounds a lot more like a favor that I would do for you.”

“Ok, but just let me explain. You don’t actually have to take me. We just have to make sure that Paxton and Shira think we’re going together, and then they’ll get jealous, realize their horrible mistakes, and take us back before prom even happens.”

Devi paused, and she was met with a blank stare, she thought about running far, far away. Deciding that she was already in too deep though, she instead attempted to fill in the awkward silence.

“The favor is I’m getting you your girlfriend back.”

“Right, yeah,” he replied hesitantly, sounding a little far off.

“Like I said, if it works - and it will work, I’ve never failed anything in my life and neither have you, as much as I hate admitting it - we won’t even actually have to go together,” she tried to reassure him. “Even if it doesn’t work, you can totally ditch me, I grant you full permission,” she tried adding.

When Ben still failed to give her a real response, she decided she needed to change her approach a bit. She softened her tone, and said “OK look. I’ve been working on being more honest so here’s the 100% truth: after everything that’s happened in the past year, going to prom alone would really just be the icing on top of the worlds shittiest cake. And I just thought, yknow, we both thought we were gonna have dates until recently, now all the tolerable people are already going with someone else, and neither one of us wanna be the loser with nobody to take pictures with. I don’t know what I could ever do to thank you properly for letting me crash with you this fall, and I’ll obviously still owe you big time even after this, but I know how much being with Shira meant to you and I thought this could get me at least a part of the way there.”

There was a brief pause, and then Ben started to kind of laugh. “Yeah, sure, I’ll do it David. I just wanted to see how many nice things about me I could get you to say before I agreed.”

“Woooow,” she groaned. “Well jokes on you cuz if you had held on another minute I would’ve started complimenting your eyes.”

“Aw, David, you like my eyes?”

“Obviously not, Ben, but the 100% honesty policy does not apply when groveling.” Ben made a joking gesture, as if Devi had stabbed him in the heart when she said this. She playfully whacked his arm to get him to stop, and rolling her eyes said, “But seriously for a second. Thank you for agreeing to this. I know it’s gonna work — I’ve got a whole spreadsheet and everything. Can you meet at lunch to figure out our shit?”

Still laughing a little at his own miming, he replied “Yeah, sure. See you then,” and since second period was one of the only times a day when they weren’t in class together, they headed off in opposite directions.

* * *

Devi spent the next few hours anxiously bobbing her leg up and down and looking anywhere but in front of her so as to avoid staring at the back of Ben's head, all the while asking herself the same question over and over again: What had she done?

Sure, Ben didn’t know that she may or may not be secretly harboring some kinda of romance-adjacent thoughts towards him, but she knew. And the amount that this was bothering her had not been accounted for in the color coded plan she had written up last night. They didn’t have much time to get things right, so she knew that they could leave no small detail up to chance. But after all that hard work, she was staring to worry that her own feelings were gonna be the thing that fucked it all up.

And if she really thought why did she even need to try and get Paxton back in the first place? She was pretty much pissed at him, and also could have just as easily asked Ben to go to prom with her for real instead. But as much as her therapy had been seemingly working, it hadn’t worked that much. It was still way easier for Devi to deny her feelings and try and restore the old order of things than for her to confront any kind of change or emotion. It was also was easier than facing potential rejection. And so now here she is, watching the clock tick down to the end of her bio lecture and the beginning of lunch, thinking about the best way to get the guy that she sorta had a crush on back together with his way-hotter-than-her ex-girlfriend. Who said she was the smartest girl in school again?

The bell rang and Ben swiveled around in his chair to face her. This was the first time she let him make eye contact since this morning. “Ready to do this?” he asked.

“No,” Devi replied a little more honestly than she had meant to.”

“Have fun you crazy kids,” Fabiola smirked at them from the desk beside her before she got up to go meet Eve in the Cafeteria, leaving Devi and Ben alone together in the lab. They both rolled their eyes at her back in sync.

And with that, they made their way to a table outside so they could sit at a table together without their friends chiming in on their conversation.


	3. thursday, early afternoon, 7.5 days before prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The classic “we’re-going-to-be-each-others-fake-date-so-we-need-to-set-some-ground-rules” chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy boys, we’re back! My initial plan was to have each chapter take place on a different day but that wasn’t working out in terms of pacing for these last two so we’re throwing caution to the wind here. Hope nobody minds. 
> 
> This chapter for sure has some “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” vibes. Also, it’s slightly more from Bens perspective than the last two, but there’s still a lot of Devi in there, so if we have thoughts about that (or anything!), lemme know. 
> 
> Also I never mentioned this in the beginning but I feel like most in schools you don’t just like... get to go to prom unless your a senior? I have no good explanation other than we’re suspending disbelief? Or their school has different rules? Lol so hopefully that hasn’t been bothering any of you as much as it’s been bugging me. 
> 
> Anyway thanks for reading, enjoy!

It was a beautiful, sunny day out, so Ben and Devi had to look around for a minute to find an empty table that was also out of eavesdropping distance. When they finally found a place to sit, Devi wordlessly pulled out a notebook and an expensive looking set of colored pens, selected a purple one, and wrote in big, immaculate cursive lettering: _Ben and Devi’s Prom Contract_ , punctuating her actions with a sharp underline.

“A contract?” Ben raised his eyebrows and looked at her expecting an explanation. She just nodded her head and gestured at the piece of stationary as if to say to him, “Yes, obviously.” But it was not obvious to Ben, so he tried again.

“What on earth do we need a contract for?”

“You tell me Mr. I-wanna-be-a-lawyer-so-that-I-can-grow-up-to-be-just-like-my-hot-dad.”

“So you agree he’s hot?”

“Obviously not, Ben, and it’s honestly repulsive that you asked that question. And also so not the point.”

“So what is the point?”

“Dude, I thought you were supposed to be smart. We need a contract so that neither of us can go back on our word. It’s not like the two of us have the most stellar record of working together.

It was true, Ben had to admit. He thought back to the beginning of last year when they were assigned to be lab partners (because they were freshman and none of the teachers had learned not to pair them together yet). They were supposed to be dissecting crickets, and somehow Devi had managed to sneak one onto his sandwich for lunch that day. Luckily he had noticed before it was too late, but that hadn’t stopped him from lecturing her about her abysmal lab safety protocol, or from accusing her of anti-Semitism for trying to force him to eat a non-Kosher meal. His family didn’t even keep Kosher, so looking back he really doesn’t even know why he said it, but he did, and Devi almost got suspended for it until Ben managed to convince their principal to let her off with a warning. 

At the time, he had told himself it was because having an academic rival was impossible if the person who you were supposed to be competing with had a disciplinary record. If she got in trouble like that it would be so obvious that he would be valedictorian that he might even stop trying, and he needed the motivation. Now, he wasn’t so sure that was the only reason he wanted to keep Devi around in school. 

Ben didn’t know how long he had been spaced out thinking about how ridiculous it is to have almost-sorta feelings for somebody who dislikes you enough to put insects in your food, but it must have been longer than he realized, because all of a sudden he heard, 

“Yo. Earth to Gross. Were you not even listening to me explain the whole point of this contract? Rude.”

He quickly adjusted the smile on his face that had unwittingly appeared while he was daydreaming to reflect a more serious demeanor and then, he straight up lied. 

“No no no. I totally got it. We were sworn enemies, gotta keep things honest, fair, et cetera,” he said, hoping that this was even 50% right.

“Yeah I guess pretty much. So anyway I have an idea for the first thing to go on the list.”

“I’m all ears,” he replied, actually meaning it this time.

“I think to really sell the whole thing, you need to prompose. Like all the ones that go viral on the internet. Really go all out. Yknow to make up for the fact that you’re only asking me to go a week before and whatever.”

“If I’m not mistaken, you asked me to go to prom with you... Shouldn’t that mean you have to... _prompose_ to me?” He cringed as he said that word.

But characteristically, Devi had an instant answer for this admittedly fair point. 

“Technically, yes, I did ask you. But nobody knows except El and Fab. And this school is filled with a bunch of patriarchal dummies who only think shit like this is cute when the girl is the one being wooed.” She paused, giving him a second to consider her logic, and then added, “Plus _you’re_ the rich one. You already have the resources.” She smirked at him.

“Alright fine. Whatever,” he relented. “Do you wanna know the details or should I keep it a secret, like if it was real?”

She hummed, thinking for a moment, and Ben did his best not to look towards the vicinity of her mouth while she chewed on her fancy pen. 

“I think secret,” she decided. “Eleanor’s the actor out of the three of us and I think if I knew exactly what was coming I’d totally blow our cover. But do it tomorrow at school, otherwise everyone’s gonna think you’re a real jerk for waiting so long to ask. Plus the earlier you ask, the earlier we can move onto phase 2. And make sure you plan it for somewhere where we’ll be seen.”

Ben nodded, thinking that despite the fact that the big picture of this whole plan still made very little sense to him, at least the details felt somewhat logical. 

“What’s this about a phase 2, then?” he asked.

“Ok so for number 2 on the contract. I need you to take me dress shopping tomorrow after school. You’re the only one of my friends who can legally drive me to the mall and I can’t go to prom wearing nothing, so...” Devi trailed off, instantly regretting her choice of phrase. 

Ben tried not to visibly gulp, and attempted to push past the awkward silence. 

“Aren’t we not _really_ going together though? Don’t you already have a dress that matches with Paxton? What do you need a second one for if you wanna go with him still anyway?”

Truthfully, Devi didn’t have a great answer for this. Her initial reasoning for needing a new dress was that she really didn’t want to show up wearing the same colors as Paxton, but Ben was right. The whole point of this plan _was_ to get Paxton to take her to prom. She’d been so caught up in the whole Ben thing that she had kind of forgotten, just for a minute, that it was all fake. 

“I mean yes,” she replied, trying to think quick on her feet. “But a lot of people from school will be at the mall, and I think it’s important that we’re seen together at least a few times outside of school. And then when they do they’ll be like _‘Ooh it must be serious if Devi’s buying a whole new dress so her and Paxton don’t match,’_ ” Devi imitated an imaginary classmate in the weirdest voice, leading Ben to think that she had a point about her bad acting skills. 

“Besides,” she continued, “people still think we hate each other, so it’s gonna take a little convincing to get people talking enough to make Paxton and Shira jealous, right?” Devi silently prayed to the gods that this sounded convincing, and took a quick glance at Ben, who’s eyebrows were raised. Still uncertain whether she had done the trick though, she started to ramble again,

“Plus, yknow, if I do wind up going alone, I need to have a backup dress. Yknow just in case,” she finished, figuring that if reasoning with Ben didn’t work, guilt tripping him might.

Ben knew that he was being manipulated, but he also knew that 90% of the pain behind Devi’s eyes when she said that was real. Sure the pout she put on was a little cherry on top, but even though Devi hadn’t told him the gory details of her and Paxton’s breakup, he had seen her that day. It seemed to have been pretty bad. And despite the fact that every time he had gone shopping with Shira he had been _insanely_ miserable, there was a voice somewhere inside of him that he was furiously trying to shove down that was practically begging to spend more time with her. 

Reluctantly (or if that voice was to be believed, not-so-reluctantly), Ben agreed to the shopping trip. He agreed to the social media posts, he agreed that he would give her rides for any prom-related activities... he even agreed to flirting in front of Paxton and Shira (though he was silently thinking that last one would probably kill him).

* * *

Ben agreed to all of it and he spent the rest of the day trying to convince himself that the reason he was so willing to do whatever Devi asked was because it would somehow help him get back with Shira. Deep down though, he knew he lying to himself, just a little bit.

In fact, Devi believed that Ben wasn’t over Shira _way_ more than Ben believed it. She spent the rest of the school day trying to to visible sulk about how Ben didn’t actually want to prompose or take her to the mall or spend any time with her. She also spent a considerable amount of time mentally kicking herself for the mess she had subjected herself to. 

Meanwhile, Eleanor and Fabiola made Devi promise before lunch that she would call to tell them about everything they had agreed to later that night, and when she did the two of them secretly texted outside their group chat about how their two friends were obviously head over heels and just didn’t know it yet.  


“If nothing else,” Eleanor wrote, “this is gonna be one hell of an entertaining week.”


	4. friday, 7 days before prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The eponymous "promposal" chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! A short note for a longish chapter: there is a song in here, but telling you what is is now would spoil the fun for later. So I'll just say once you figure it out, listening while reading would not hurt the ~vibes~ (in fact it might even enhance them!)
> 
> Enjoy :)

Devi does not sleep at all Thursday night. 

She looked across the room at her clock: 3:34 AM. In a few short hours, if he did what he was told, Ben Gross was going to ask her to prom. She rolled onto her stomach, groaning into her pillow. She was dreading everything about today. 

Devi wasn't sure what had come over her when she had agreed - no, _suggested_ \- that the details should be a secret. Devi didn't handle surprises well. She was hoping maybe her hatred for them would not apply when she knew, more or less, what was coming, but as she had come to find out over the past 12 hours or so, she had been mistaken. 

At around 5:30 Friday morning, Devi decided she had spent enough time staring up at her ceiling and rolls out of bed a full hour earlier than usual. She was hardly a morning person, but she also knew that if Ben decided to put on half as big of a production as when he'd asked Shira to prom a few months ago, she was about to be _all_ over social media, so she figured she might as well take some extra time to look hot. Plus even if nobody else filmed it, she had made Ben tell Eleanor and Fabiola so that at least they could post it to their own accounts.

So with that in mind, she picked out the cutest outfit that she could reasonably expect her mom to let her leave the house wearing, pulled out the makeup palettes that she only used on special occasions, and checked herself in the mirror about 40 times before leaving her room. By the time she had made it downstairs, she realized she was would miss her bus if she didn't leave the house soon, so she made herself some coffee to go and shoved a piece of toast in her mouth as she ran out the door, grateful that she had managed to escape without being interrogated about the especially red shade of lipstick she had chosen for the day. 

* * *

Since Ben drives himself to school everyday, Devi could usually count on arriving at school first. She was counting on those few extra minutes even more than usual today, but when she turned down the hallway, there he was, leaning against their lockers, looking too good for someone so annoying. _Damn her heart for being so much dumber than her brain,_ she thought as she braced herself for his nonsense. 

As she approached Ben, Devi swore that he was staring at the hemline of her skirt, which she had been sure to hike up an inch or two as soon as she got off the bus, but she blinked and the look was gone as quick as it had appeared. Instead, he was looking back at her with a shit-eating grin and a look in his eyes - his stupid, perfect blue eyes - that could only be described as mischievous _._ If she hadn't felt like this was a mistake earlier, she sure as shit was feeling like it now. 

"You look good today, David. Have something special planned for later?" 

She scowled at him. "Shut your stupid mouth, Gross. Besides," she retorted, "I look good everyday." 

"True." 

The word seemed to hang in the air for several eternities as both of them realized what he had just said. Ben unfroze just in time to try and recover, though. "For a member of the UN, I mean..." he trailed off, pretty clearly not meaning it. 

Not really knowing how to react, Devi just said, "Well considering how much of a mess you usually are, I'd say you cleaned up alright yourself." A smile started to crack on Ben's face, but she wasn't letting him off that easy. "Did Patty pick out that outfit for you?" 

Devi was satisfied when she heard him mumbling something about how _actually he had great style_ and _there's no shame in asking someone for help, David,_ so she cut him off before he could embarrass himself further. 

"Hey, listen." Ben looked up from the spot on the ground where he had been staring. "About this whole keeping-your-plan-for-today-a-secret thing? Can we just not?" Devi put on her best puppy dog eyes, but much to her dismay, Ben stayed strong against them. 

"Why?"

"Dude, it's kind of killing me slowly." 

He was not moved. In fact, he started laughing. "Devi, _that's_ the fun part for me. The rest of this plan has been hard work, yknow." 

Devi wanted to tease him about how this was probably the first time he had ever had to work hard for anything in life, but she was on a mission and couldn't get distracted, so instead, she followed behind him from their lockers to their history classroom, tugging on the back of his tshirt the whole way, doing her best impression of a difficult toddler who refused to take no for an answer. 

" _Puhleeeezze_ can you at least give me a hint?" 

Ben turned around to interrupt her whining, making more intense eye contact and standing a lot closer than Devi had anticipated. 

"Listen," he said. "It - whatever _it_ is - will happen when it happens. And your friends are under strict orders not to say, so don't bother asking them either." Devi sulked as he continued, "But if you can't trust me, trust them. They wouldn't have agreed to film anything that they'd think you'd hate. So as long as you say yes, nobody is gonna get hurt, or embarrassed, or have anything bad happen to them. I promise. OK?" 

Devi knew perhaps better than anyone that you could never promise something like that, but she also knew that was probably exactly why Ben had said it. She could tell by his tone of voice and the fact that he had put a hand on her arm to try and make her feel better than Ben understood that her stress about today was deeper than her being a little too type-A for anyone's good because he had always had an uncanny ability to read her mind. She was finding difficult to form coherent sentences when her face was so close to Ben's, so she just nodded in response and he smiled and sat down in the seat in front of her. 

Devi told herself that the only reason she was sad that he'd stepped away was because her desk was right under the AC vent his being so close was like having a living space heater. _All boys are that warm,_ she thought. _Freaks of nature, really._

But she knew that if she stopped to think about any of this for more than a second that her goosebumps had nothing to do with the cold air blowing onto her bare arms, and that her temperature was not the real reason why she wanted to keep Ben close (although admittedly, it did not hurt). So she also knew that she couldn't stop to think. 

* * *

Somehow, Devi's friends managed to make it through the morning without spilling Ben's plan. It probably helped that she didn't have a ton of classes with all 3 of them before lunch. By the time she reached the cafeteria that afternoon, however, she had a sneaking suspicion that _something_ was about to go down since Eleanor had not been able to stop giggling every time they made eye contact. _Worst poker face ever,_ Devi thought, amused at her friend's inability to keep a secret. 

Even this clue was not enough to calm Devi's nerves though, so she went back to pleading. 

"Will you at least tell me if I get it right?" 

"Maybe," Fabiola smirked, but she still stayed way more stone-faced than Eleanor had been able to. 

"Ok, ok, ok..." Devi thought out loud about all of the craziest scenarios that Ben might have managed to pull off overnight with seemingly unlimited resources. "Maybe it'll be like when I go to pre-calc, right? And Mrs. Jones will be writing something on the whiteboard when I come in and sit down and I'll think like _Damn she looks way better than normal,_ and so I'll say to her, like _Hey Mrs. Jones, did you get a haircut or something yesterday, cuz you look totally different and fabulous?_ And then she'll turn around and it turns out - _gasp -_ it's not Mrs. Jones, it's _Beyoncé._ And she'd be all, _Thank you so much Devi. I am fabulous, but not as fabulous as you. You should come be a backup dancer on my next tour. I'll totally have my agent reach out to you._ And then Ben will come in or whatever with a sign that says _"Don't be a Single Lady at Prom"_ or something stupid, and then -" 

Eleanor has gotten almost as caught up in this fantasy land as Devi, but Fabiola cuts Devi off before she starts turning blue due to lack of oxygen. "As impressed as I am that you managed to get all that out in one breath," Fabiola says, "I know Ben's dad has connections, but do you really think he has _Beyoncé-_ level connections?" 

"You're probably right," Devi sighs. "But how cool would that have been though?" 

"You're _so_ lucky that your fake date is rich," Eleanor says dreamily. "Oliver is my _real_ date and the only thing he did was show up to my house with flowers one day. No signs with puns anywhere in sight. I mean don't get me wrong, we love each other, I would have said yes if he had just send a text that said _prom?_ But god, it would have been so fun if he had put on a whole show and everything." 

Now it was Devi's turn to be lost in thought. "Honestly El, if it was for real, I think I would have preferred something simple like that. I mean it had to be like _grandiose_ or whatever for the plan to work cuz a dozen roses in my driveway wouldn't have exactly gotten enough attention, but I think that's why it's better. More romantic that way, yknow?" 

Devi didn't notice the knowing look that her friends were giving each other more and more when she talked about Ben because she had let her eyes drift to the now-empty table in the cafeteria where he usually sat. Realizing he's not here snaps her back to reality, though, and the promposal-related anxiety comes flooding back. Just as shes about to start pestering her friends again, a familiar voice comes over the loudspeaker, interrupting her thoughts. 

" _Heeeellllllloooo students,_ " Ben drawled, and Devi turned around to face the PA. "If I am not mistaken, you still have 15 minutes left in your lunch period, so if I was you right now, I would head to the auditorium - something's about to happen that you won't want to miss." 

Devi turned back to beg her friends not to make her go, but Fabiola had somehow already slipped away, presumably to go be on camera duty. Eleanor spoke before she even got a chance to protest, though. 

"Devi, this was _your_ idea. Can't back out now." 

"But El-" 

"I know, I know. Surprises aren't your thing. They never have been, but especially now. I get it. But I'm telling you: _you can trust Ben._ Not gonna lie, he kinda nailed this for something fake. He gets you - more than I do, sometime, I think." 

Devi chose to ignore the air quotes her friend had put around the word fake, took a deep breath, and held her hand as they walked out of the cafeteria and towards what she was sure would be the place she died of humiliation. 

* * *

Ben guessed that if karma was real, this must be it, because despite the fact that Ben had been lightly teasing Devi all day about her nerves, now that the time had come he had a noticeable sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

His anxiety was not eased at all when he peered out from behind the red velvet curtain that was currently closed in front of their school's stage. He must have severely underestimated how bored his classmates were, because he swears that everyone he's ever met had shown up to watch. He felt kind of stupid as he stood there, insides churning, because the spectacle he had made for Shira's promposal was exponentially bigger than what he had planned for Devi - he had weeks to plan that one, after all. I mean, sure, he was a little nervous that the cannon would malfunction that day, but overall, he had been much calmer than he was right now. _Guess that's what happens when you actually care about someone,_ he thought, and then immediately regretted thinking. 

His phone lit up with a text from Eleanor ( _"Eagle 1 has landed"_ ) which was his cue to send a message to Oliver, who was up in the lighting booth, to get the show started. _It's go time,_ he typed out. Holding his breath, he pressed send. 

Devi watched from the audience as the house lights dimmed and a projector and screen descended in front of the curtain. Everyone got suddenly quiet, and she squirmed a little. _Here goes nothing,_ she thought. A video came on of a room that was empty except for a chair with nobody in it. Her classmates started whispering, confused, but they immediately stopped again as the sound of footsteps was heard over the speakers. 

"Hi, I'm Nick Jonas," said the figure who had appeared on screen, "and this is a message for Devi Vishwakumar." 

Suddenly all eyes in the room were darting back and forth between Nick Jonas - _no, that couldn't really be Nick Jonas_ \- and Devi. She self-consciously closed her mouth, her jaw having dropped automatically when she heard Nick Jonas say her name. 

"You see, Devi, my buddy Ben Gross called me up last night and said he needed a favor. He said that he wanted to ask you to prom, but that he was afraid you might say no because you were too in love with someone more talented, more handsome, and overall just way cooler than him." Nick Jonas - _yes, apparently it_ was _that Nick Jonas_ \- paused, and Devi, whose cheeks had gotten so red she figured people could tell even in the dark theater, tried to look anywhere but the direction where she had seen Paxton sit down earlier.

Luckily Nick Jonas - _how???_ \- broke the tension. "He was talking about me, obviously," she heard him say, and turned her attention back to the screen. _Not cool, Gross._ She'd be sure to yell at him for that one later.

"Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that even though you'll always have a special place in my heart, you shouldn't let that get in the way of enjoying your prom. You deserve to spend the night with someone who's able to love you more than I'll ever be able to." Devi found herself wondering just _how much_ of this was supposed to be a metaphor, as it was all starting to feel a little _too_ real. 

"But if I'm not enough to convince you to say yes, Ben hopes this'll do the trick." Nick Jonas - _I mean, really? Was she dreaming?_ \- smiled straight into the camera. As the video faded out and the screen rose back up, the curtain opened to reveal the school's choir and orchestra, which was suddenly playing. It took Devi a second to register the tune, but she recognized it before the first verse had even started and tears had immediately began forming in her eyes. Eleanor handed her a tissue as the choir started to sing: 

> _"Called her for the first time yesterday_   
>  _Finally found the missing part of me_   
>  _Felt so close but you were far away_   
>  _Left me without anything to say."_

Devi tried to bury her face in Eleanor's shoulder, but she was quickly swatted away. "You have to watch," she whispered. "It's so beautiful." Devi hated to admit it, but she was kind of right, so she turned her face back to the stage as they sang the second verse. 

> _"I can't get your smile out of my mind_   
>  _I think about your eyes all the time_   
>  _You're beautiful but you don't even try_   
>  _Modesty is just so hard to find."_

Devi had never blushed this much before in her life. She and Eleanor had taken seats about three quarters of the way to the back of the room, and so she could see hundreds of her classmates swaying along to the song (although Paxton was noticeably still - she had snuck a quick glance before Eleanor nudged her hard in the leg). Some of them were even singing along during the chorus - this _had_ been every girl's favorite song in elementary school, so she couldn't exactly say that was shocking. 

As much as Devi was, to her pleasant surprise, genuinely enjoying this moment, she was also wondering when the man of the hour was going to finally make an appearance. As soon as she had that thought, though, she saw him peek out from the wings and they locked eyes. Devi held her breath, knowing exactly what lyrics were next. Every logical fiber in her was telling her to break their eye contact, but something much stronger in her had her frozen in place. So they just smiled at each other from a distance as the choir sang the next verse. 

> _"Kissed her for the first time yesterday_   
>  _Everything I wished that it would be_   
>  _Suddenly I forgot how to speak_   
>  _Hopeless, breathless, baby can't you see?"_

Devi heard her classmates before she processed the reason why they were cheering. Two spotlights had been turned on, one shining on Ben, who had come out onstage, and the other focused on her. She heard Eleanor say "Devi, _go to him_ " through gritted teeth. So, thankful that her friend had thought far enough ahead to get them an aisle seat, she did. 

As she walked towards the stage, she realized that the choir had left and Ben was alone up there with the orchestra and a mic stand. As she walked up the steps, he reached a hand out to her. The whole auditorium was quiet again as he started to sing the final chorus, and there was that _damn_ eye contact again. Devi felt like they might be the only two people left on the planet, let alone in the room. 

> _"Now I'm speechless, over the edge_   
>  _I'm just breathless_   
>  _I never thought that I'd catch this love bug again_   
>  _Now I'm hopeless, head over heels in the moment_   
>  _I never thought that I'd get hit by this love bug again."_

Devi slowly felt herself return to her own body as another curtain was opened to reveal what looked like hundreds of balloons arranged to spell out "PROM?" and her peers began cheering. 

Meanwhile, Ben almost felt nervous that she would say no. _Maybe this was some really elaborate and cruel prank that she was pulling just so she could reject him in front of literally everyone they knew,_ he thought. But before he could really start spiraling, Devi was pulling him into a tight hug and whispered into his ear, "How did you know?" 

Ben pulled away slightly, ready to make a quip about how it was was easy to learn a thing or two about someone when they're as self-absorbed as her, but he couldn't bring himself to say it when he saw her looking back at him with a soft smile and blushed cheeks. Instead, he went with honesty, and prayed he wouldn't regret it later. 

"I always know with you." 

They stood like this for a moment, not quite hugging, but still close, before the moment was broken by some future frat bro shouting at them from the crowd. 

" _Bro,_ what did she say though?" 

Devi giggled, and took the mic off the stand. "Well, Nick was right. You are definitely not as good looking as him," she winked at him. "But he was also right about not letting that get in the way of things. So I say yes, Benjamin Gross," she looked back at him. "I will go to prom with you." 

Devi smiled as her classmates started cheering louder than they had when their football team won the homecoming game. Ben took her hand and they started to make their way offstage, and as nice as all this had turned out to be, Devi was glad for her time as the center of attention to be over. 

Except the loud jock from before had apparently decided that he wasn't done with them yet, because just before they had been able to leave, he started chanting "KISS! KISS! KISS!" Before they knew it, the rest of the room had joined in - Eleanor included, the little traitor. As Devi looked out at the audience, making a mental note to yell at her friend for encouraging this once she was offstage, she also realized that an empty seat where she knew Paxton had been. 

She looked back at Ben, who's face betrayed his utter panic. Trying to diffuse the situation, she joked to him "This feels like every bad rom-com I've ever loved." 

"I think they might eat us if we don't kiss," Ben joked back, but there was some degree of seriousness in his tone. 

"Um, yeah. I think you might actually be right. Just, uh -" she gestured towards her cheek, and but as he placed his lips gingerly on a spot somewhere near her jawline, they started to _boo._

"WEAK!" yelled the unidentified instigator, who almost definitely played varsity lacrosse. 

Devi shrugged. "I mean it's not like it would be the first time, I guess." _Fuck, she should not have said that out loud._ They had barely talked about Malibu, and now was _not_ the time. Before Ben could even have a chance to answer, she was leaning in. 

All at once, it was like they were back in that car on the beach all those months ago. Devi slid one hand down from Ben's face to his neck to his chest, stopping right over his heart to feel his pulse racing nearly as fast as hers. The spot on her lower back where his hands were pressed felt like it was on fire. 

They broke apart at the sound of wold whistles and the seventh period bell going off. Everyone started filing out to get to their next class, having gotten their excitement in for the day. Ben and Devi, however, were as still as statues. Devi was regretting every time she had ever said that if she could have any superpower that she would pick flight, because she wanted nothing more right now than the ability to read Ben's mind. 

After what felt like hours but had in reality only been a few seconds, she managed to form words - barely. 

"Thanks, uh, for. Yknow. Everything, I guess," she stammered. "I mean not - well. Yeah. And Nick Jonas. I mean not just that but - well you know. Also the other... things.You're, um. Right. Well, see you in English later." She nearly sprinted off the stage, praying that Eleanor and Fabiola hadn't abandoned her and were waiting on the other side of the auditorium doors. 

Ben only had one thought as he wordlessly watched her leave: _Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)))))
> 
> OK so! In case you are still not aware, the song in this chapter is "Lovebug" by the Jonas Brothers. I was initially going to use a Nick Jonas solo-career song, but I was re-listening to this one and it was right in my sweet spot of Benvi relevance and OG JoBro nostalgia, so how could I not. 
> 
> Anyway, hoping to get the Friday afternoon chapter up by the end of the week (get ready for some Say Yes to the Dress Vibes hehe)! xo


	5. friday afternoon, 6.5 days before prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Devi attempt to ignore the fact that they've just made out in front of the entire school while they go dress shopping together. 
> 
> What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said this would be up by the end of the week and here it is! On the same day that I updated my other fic no less! Cheers to that! 
> 
> So this is the chapter for anyone who has ever loved a makeover montage scene / watched way too many hours of Say Yes to the Dress in a row / has seen 27 Dresses on multiple occasions / etc.
> 
> (There's also a bunch of other stuff going on here so don't worry if that's not totally your thing, but you're in for a real treat if it is!)
> 
> I chopped off what was supposed to be the end section of this chapter and am pushing it to become chapter 6 because (1) it is already quite long and (2) it has been a lil trickier for me to write that scene anayway, so to avoid rushing it and making it not very good as a result, I'm just gonna wait. So Friday is now taking up 3 chapters instead of the initially planned for 1. Oops! What can I say it was a busy day for Ben and Devi lol
> 
> Speaking of which, it's looking like this is gonna be roughly 12 chapters (emphasis on roughly, I've still got a ways to go lol) so the next one should be about halfway to the end! I'm hoping to have it up sooner than later since most of it is already written, but this'll definitely will be updated again within a week at the latest. 
> 
> That's all for now, hope you enjoy!

“Well that sure was something,” Devi heard Fabiola say as she walked out of the auditorium and into the hallway, looking up to see her friends staring back with their eyebrows raised.

“Please tell me that none of what just happened was real.”

 _She couldn’t have kissed Ben,_ she thought, panicking. _Not again, not in front of the whole school._

Eleanor looked almost personally offended. “Not even the Nick Jonas part?” she asked.

“OK correction: please tell me nothing that just happened _besides_ Nick Jonas saying my name was real.” Devi conceded.

“But why would I do that when I know you’re hoping all of it was real,” Fabiola teased.

“Fab!” Devi clenched her jaw.

“I think she might be right, Devi,” Eleanor giggled. “Me and Oliver have been dating for a long time now and I don’t think he’s _ever_ kissed me the way you two just kissed.”

Devi buried her head in her palms, but after a moment she looked back up at her friends. She couldn’t lie to them, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth either. Instead, she just groaned.

“What the fuck do I do now?”

With a knowing look of pity behind their eyes, her friends each wrapped an arm around her shoulder and guided her down the hall to their next class.

“I think,” Eleanor said tentatively, “you maybe just have to be honest?”

* * *

Devi felt eyes on her the rest of the afternoon and spent 2 hours dreading seeing Ben in class later.

Luckily, she still made it through her next couple classes without jumping out of the nearest window, so was still considering her afternoon to be a success. Or at least as much of a success as she could hope for on a day like this - she was going to have to get someone’s notes for every single class because she’d never paid less attention to anything in her life.

As she walked down the hallway towards her English classroom, her last period of the day and the first time she had seen Ben since The Incident (TM), Devi found debating the likelihood that someone had drugged her when she came up with this plan. She made a mental note to have Fab run the numbers later, and also to maybe lay off the Bravo shows and Lifetime movies because watching that shit was clearly making her dumber.

El and Fab weren’t in this class with her and Ben. On one hand, she was probably better off alone since they had been acting like Devi was actually planning on buying a wedding dress than a prom dress after school today. But on the other hand, _no backup_. Just her, and the boy who she just kissed in front of everyone she’d ever met, who she had spent months ignoring after he did the single nicest favor that anyone had ever done for her in her whole life and she’d kissed him, who she had grown up thinking she hated but who she now had a maybe-a-little-less-secret-than-before crush on.

 _No biggie_ , Devi thought, _she’s handled worse, right?_

 _Sure she may not have handled it well,_ a quieter voice in her head reminded her unhelpfully, _but who’s counting?_

Devi had almost reached the door and she knew with almost 100% certainty that Ben was already going to be there. He was going to be sitting in the second seat from the window in the first row with a blue notebook turned to a blank page on his desk, because he insisted that English was blue and math was red even though everyone obviously knows that math is blue and English is red.

She knew that he had PE right before English so his cheeks would probably still be a little flushed and his hair would be a little more out of place than it had been in the morning. She knew that he had already finished the book they were reading in class and was probably already on the second draft of his final essay by now. She knew because Ben was right; when it came to them, they always just _knew_.

At least _almost_ always - the one thing Devi really wanted to know with certainty was the look he’d have on his face when she opened the door. The only way for her to know that, though, was to open the door, so she took a deep breath and turned the knob.

Ben had been staring out the window, shaking his leg up and down nervously for exactly one minute and forty-six seconds. He knew because he’d been counting. _Waiting_. His head whipped around every time the door opened and he deflated a little every time it wasn’t Devi. Sure, he was completely dreading the conversation they were going to have to have soon, but he was still human, and no matter how awkward things were about to be between them, her legs would still be nice to look at. And also her face, and also her everything.

He got so caught up in this train of thought, wondering when his brain had required itself to think of Devi as “nice to look at” instead of “repulsive in every way,” or when not being around Devi had become an almost painful state of existence, that he almost didn’t look up when it was actually her that had come into the room.

 _Almost_ , but not quite. Ben had spent the afternoon preparing himself to hear a speech about how it was all for show, all to make Paxton jealous, all a part of the plan. That their second kiss was just like their first kiss: it didn’t mean anything to her. And he was OK with that. Well actually, he _hated_ it, but he’d come to terms with it. Ben could be a real asshole sometimes, but at least he wasn’t the brand of asshole that thought just because he liked a girl that he was entitled to be with her. She liked Paxton, even after he’d broken her heart, and he had to live with it.

As he made eye contact with Devi standing in the doorway though, she smiled shyly at him and all the preparation he had done to steel himself against this incoming blow was instantly undone. _Fuck, this one was gonna hurt,_ he thought. She sat down in the seat next to him and started taking out her things, smiling weakly in his direction and clearly not exactly sure what to say. Ben attempted to ease the tension with a joke.

“David after all this time, I can believe I still haven’t managed to convince you that English notebooks should be red.” He saw her shoulders relax; this was familiar territory. They could handle this kind of conversation.

“Well until you cite some sources, I have no reason to believe you,” she offered back.

“I don’t need sources - I _am_ the source.”

“When you can show me your degree in notebook colorology I’ll switch mine. But until then, the blue stays.” She tapped her fist on the table like it was a gavel and they both chuckled.

When the laughter stopped and they were faced once again with silence, Ben changed his tone.

“Devi, I just wanted to say —"

“I know we have to talk,” she cut him off. “But I think here, and now, it’s probably a bad idea. With class about to start and also everyone in the room watching us like we’re on their favorite teenage soap.”

Ben glances around, taking his eyes off of Devi for the first time since she walked in the room and noticing that she was right. He felt like a zoo animal.

“Yeah ok. Fair enough. So, uh... when then?”

“Well are we still on for after school today? We can talk on then?”

“Oh, you still wanted to do the shopping thing?”

 _Of course he didn’t,_ Devi thought. Quickly trying to save herself from embarrassment, she said, “I mean if you don’t want to anymore —”

“No, no it’s not that. I don’t mind at all. I just wasn’t sure, you know, since the whole reason to go, you said, was like... _publicity_... I wasn’t sure if we needed that anymore. I mean I heard that Chrissy Teigen retweeted the video saying that if John Legend didn’t sing her that song later today that she was filing for divorce.”

“For real?”

Ben just shrugged at her. They weren’t supposed to take out their phones in class, but technically the bell hadn’t rung yet, so she slipped her out of her backpack and opened Twitter. Sure enough, “Lovebug” was the number 3 trending topic.

“Holy shit,” she said. “It actually kinda worked!”

“You’re welcome?”

Devi looked back up at Ben, who was smiling softly at her. “I’d still like to go to the mall, if you’re cool with it,” she said.

“Yeah! Of course,” he answered, trying not to reveal to her how much he was actually looking forward to spending the day with her, even if everything between them had an air of awkwardness surrounding it.

“Awesome!” Devi said, and then feeling like that had been too enthusiastic, she mumbled, “Yknow, gotta capitalize on the momentum, and all that.”

“Right.” Ben said, his smile disappearing quickly.

The bell to start English finally rang, and they spent the next 45 minutes not making any eye contact.

When class was over, Devi packed up her backpack and started to sling it over her shoulder, but Ben put a hand out to stop her.

“Allow me.”

“Ben do you think I’m like frail or something? I can carry my own books.”

“No, I know,” he said under his breath, “but it’s like you said, this school is filled with a bunch of patriarchal dummies. They eat shit like this up.”

“Welp, guess I can’t really complain about not having to lug that thing back to your car. Especially since you always park like 10 miles away.”

“Well it’s technically my Dad’s car, and if I bring it home with so much as a scratch on it, I’m toast, so I figure best to steer clear of the student parking lot,” he retorts as he picks up her bag. “ _Jesus,_ David, do you carry bricks around all day?”

“ _Awww_ is it too heavy for your weak little arms?” She said this in a baby voice, poking at his biceps and noticing, not for the first time, that nothing about Ben’s arms was weak or little.

“No, we’ve been over this David, I’m _obviously_ jacked,” she knew he was kind of kidding, but clearly he was also kind of _not_. “But I’m kinda surprised you don’t have scoliosis or something,” he continued.

* * *

They reached his car a few minutes later, and Devi flopped down in the passenger seat, doing everything in her power not to think about the last time she was in this spot crying about Paxton. Ben tossed their stuff in the trunk and climbed in the driver’s side.

Devi was a little lost in her own world as he turned the key, thinking about the last time she had sat here after her breakup with Paxton, but as soon as the car came on, the voice of a young Nick Jonas singing a now all-too-familiar song was immediately blasting over the speakers. Ben scrambled quickly to shut it off.

Devi looked toward him, eyebrows arched. Without turning to face her, he just said quietly,

“I was… practicing.”

“Practicing?” Devi echoed him, leaning her head forward as if she hadn’t heard him correctly.

“Practicing,” Ben repeated back.

“For me?”

Ben looked down at his shoes, and responded in a near-whisper, “For you.”

Devi places a hand gingerly on his shoulder, and he finally turned to face her. She smiled at him.

“That’s kind of adorable,” She hadn’t exactly meant to say it out loud, but it was true, so she shrugged it off.

She noticed something pass over Ben’s eyes and when she looked at him, they seemed grayer than before.

She could tell that neither of them were ready for things to be this real this quickly. _Dress shopping first, vulnerability later_ , she thought.

“Plus,” she said, placing her hands back in her lap. “It kind of paid off. Even if Shira didn’t wanna go to prom with you after all this, I think almost any girl in the school would say yes just for the prospect of meeting Nick Jonas alone,” Devi tried to joke.

Ben forced out a chuckle, appreciating Devi’s change in tone but hating the reminder that none of this was ever going to be as real for her as it was for him.

“Speaking of which,” Devi continued, “how on _Earth_ did you _never_ brag to me about knowing _Nick Jonas_? I mean for all the times you thought I’d be impressed that _Lisa Vanderpump_ was one of your Dad’s clients, you never thought to mention that my _number one_ celebrity crush since eternity was also an acqaintance?”

“He’s actually not one of my dad’s clients,” Ben admitted. “I don’t really know him.”

“Wait so how the hell did you get that video so quick then? Was this like a Cameo thing or something?”

“No,” he laughed. “Actually, I used to go to summer camp with Frankie, and he owed me a favor. So I called it in.”

“The _Bonus Jonas_ owed you a favor?” Devi was incredulous.

Ben laughed at the name. “I forgot people used to call him that. But yeah, he did.”

“Right cuz you guys are on a first name basis from _camp,_ ” Devi mocked. Still in slight disbelief at this story, she asked “And you used it on a fake promposal where the girl you were asking basically _had_ to say yes?”

“I guess. I mean to be fair I think if I hadn’t brought my A-game you still might have rejected me.”

Devi giggled. “Probably true. But still! I knew you were dumb, but I didn’t think you were this dumb,” she said, punching his shoulder. “Why didn’t you cash in to win over Shira? I’m sure she loves them, you could’ve gotten her concert tickets or something.”

“She wouldn’t have appreciated the gesture like you did.”

 _And also he could kind of care less about Shira_ , Ben wanted to say, but he knew he couldn’t reveal the 100% truth if he didn’t want to dive back into the deep end with Devi.

“Plus, I actually did get tickets for their show. It’s actually in a couple weeks, you should come.”

“I don’t do third wheels, Gross.”

“Oh no, I meant... I only have two seats.”

“Oh,” Devi said, poorly masking her delight. She was trying not to think about how this sounded suspiciously like he was asking her on a date - a _real_ date – or about how little sense it made to be agreeing to go to a concert with him at the same time that he was supposed to be trying to win his ex-girlfriend back over. “In that case, I’m down.”

“Cool!” Ben hoped he didn’t sound too excited but knew that he probably did. They smiled widely at each other and if Ben was a braver man, he would’ve kissed her again right then. He really wanted to. So bad. But timing was everything, and now wasn’t it. Not when he wasn’t sure. So instead he shifted his car into reverse, tore his glance away from Devi’s glowing face and towards the back window, and said,

“Let’s get this shit show on the road, shall we, David?”

Devi laughed. “Let’s. But you have to tell me every last detail about going to camp with a Jonas Brother on the way there.”

* * *

About 20 minutes later, Ben pulled smoothly into a spot in the mall parking lot. It was kind of crazy how much his driving ability had improved, Devi thought; Devi had only been scared for her life once the whole way there, as opposed to for the entire duration of their ride like she had been when he took her to Malibu.

 _His driving wasn’t the only thing that had changed since then_ , she realized.

“OK I don’t know anything about where people go dress shopping so you’re gonna have to take the lead from here,” Ben said as they got out of the car.

“Perfect. Just how I like it,” she winked at him.

As they walked together across the parking lot and through the mall, their conversation was light, and enjoyable. How had it been less than a week that they were sitting in the principal’s office for the umpteenth time after shouting something rude at each other in class, Devi wondered.

She stopped in front of the pretzel stand inside the mall.

“We’ve arrived at our first destination,” she announced proudly.

Ben gave her a puzzled look. “I _know_ I said I knew nothing about dress shopping, but I feel like I at least know enough to say that this is _maybe_ not the first place I’d check?”

“We need nourishment, Benjamin. It’s been a long day.”

_She could say that again._

“Cmon,” she yelled after him, already getting in line. “You’re paying!”

He laughed to himself, and reached in his pocket to find his wallet. _God, he had it bad,_ he thought as he made his way to join her in line.

Once, they’d gotten their pretzels, they sat at the tables in front of the shop to eat them and Ben tried not to think about how this felt way more like a real date than he had anticipated. Devi reached over to take a piece of his pretzel, and he swatted her hand away.

“No, no, no. You _said_ wanted a cinnamon sugar pretzel, and that is what I got you. I got this one for _me,_ ” he teased.

“I did,” she said plainly, “but _now_ I want yours.”

Ben was no match for the puppy dog eyes she was giving him, so they swapped pretzels and continued chatting.

All of a sudden, Devi spotted a group of girls they went to school with looking over at their table and whispering.

“Take my hand,” she whispered to Ben.

“What?” Ben was sure he must need to get his hearing checked.

Devi titled her head in the direction of their peers and when Ben spotted them, he nodded, understanding. He reached over to intertwine his fingers with hers so that they would be seen by their classmates acting _couple-y._ Ben held back a sigh. _All a part of the plan,_ he repeated to himself for the hundredth (or thousandth) time that day.

There was a beat of silence, both of them staring at their hands on the table and not quite believing they were attached to their bodies.

“So,” Devi started up again, clearing her throat. “What do you think the strategy is here?”

“Huh?” He had no clue what Devi was talking about.

“Well this is the In-Case-I-Don’t-Go-With-Paxton Dress, right? So do I pick something that’s like basically lingerie so that he gets jealous of how hot I look when he sees me in it? Or do I not even bother because it’ll make me look super desperate and if we haven’t gotten back together by then it’s basically a lost cause?”

“Oh. Right. Well,” Ben said thinking for a moment, feeling like this was a trap. “I guess a little skin can’t hurt, right? I mean even if he’s dumb enough not to take you back before prom, it’s still nice to rub it in a little right? Men are men.”

“Ugh you would say that, you perv,” she said, punching his arm again.

“You asked,” he retorted through his laughter.

“Can we switch pretzels again?”

“Are you serious, David?”

She just shrugged. “Women are women?” she mimicked his previous, lightly sexist remark.

“You’re kinda the worst, did you know that?”

“I think you may have mentioned that to me once or twice before, yes. Not my fault you didn’t think of that before you signed our contract.”

“Touché,” he said, passing the cinnamon pretzel back to her.

* * *

It was another hour or so before Ben found himself sitting in a dressing room that was supposed to look fancy but wound up just looking tacky. After they had finished their pretzels, Devi had taken him into a department store where he had pretty much followed her around for a while as she combed through racks of long gowns.

“It’s only a week til prom,” she explained as she did this, “so most of what’s left is terrible. But I’ll make something work.”

He mostly just watched her shop, giving his opinion only when she asked for it, making sure to say yes to anything that she held up that was red. She had steered clear of the green section all together - that was Paxton’s color.

Now that she had picked out a few options that were passable for her, he waited. One of the sales ladies approached him to ask if he needed anything.

“No, thank you, I’m fine. Just waiting.”

“Weren’t you with the girl looking for a prom dress?” she asked in a deep southern drawl. Ben nodded. “Well if that’s not the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. Gosh,” she gushed. “If any of my high school boyfriends had been willing to take me dress shopping, I think I would’ve married them the day after graduation. She’s lucky to have you.”

“Oh, shes not my—” Ben tried to explain, but the woman had already walked away.

It was at that moment that Devi opened the door to the changing room, and as Ben turned his head and saw her, he swore he could hear angels singing.

“I’m not sure about this one,” she said, thankfully not noticing Ben’s wide eyes as she turned to face a full length mirror. “I think it makes me look a little pudgy around here,” Devi said, gesturing to her midsection. She turned to look at Ben. “What do you think?”

Devi spun around in front of him. The dress she had on was white and hugged her waist and hips. It was strapless and the top half was dotted with rhinestones. For a split second, Ben let himself be distracted by the sales lady’s marriage comment, thinking that she looked a lot like a bride. But she was waiting for an answer, so he snapped back to reality quickly.

“I think you look... good,” never sure around her how honest was too honest.

“Ugh see but that’s the problem.”

“Since when is looking good a problem?”

“Good isn’t good enough. Plus it was a hesitant good!”

“No no no,” he was quick to correct her. “Not hesitant. You do look good,” he said more surely this time. “I just...” he was struggling to come with a more acceptable explanation for his earlier pause than “I was imagining what it would be like to watch you walk down the aisle wearing that dress at our future wedding and got distracted for a moment,” deciding that “You look like you could be Aphrodite and also I think I’m in love with you,” was probably not much better.

“I just think you should be comfortable in what you’re wearing,” he finally settled on. “And you sounded like it was making you a little self-conscious. Which you shouldn’t feel like you have to be, by the way,” he added.

She twisted her mouth at him and narrowed her eyes.

“You look _good_ ,” he repeated, putting slightly more emphasis on the word this time.

“Ben, literally no girl has ever been comfortable in a prom dress. Especially not one this tight,” she said, smoothing the fabric. “Look good now, breathe good later, yknow? And that’s before you factor in the shoes.”

“Why do girls even wear heels anyway? They seem like medieval torture devices.”

“Oh they for sure could have been. But they make your butt look good,” Devi said shrugging, as she turned back around to face the mirror. It was taking a lot of self-restraint for Ben to not let his eyes wander down her back after that comment.

“Well anyway,” she said, breezing past her matter of fact statement, “I think it’s _OK_ but the first one is almost never the best one. I’ll be right back.”

Devi went back into the fitting room and closed the door behind her, so Ben was left once again to sit with his thoughts, which had now been populated with weddings and butts. He wondered while he waited if Devi was torturing him on purpose to make up for the years of insults he’d hurled at her about her looks.

A minute later, she called out from behind the door,

“You remember our conversation earlier?”

“Yes,” he called back, not sure which one she was referring to exactly, but remembering them all.

“Well this ones probably about a 10 on the ‘Would a Playboy model wear this to a gala’ scale so uh... no judging allowed.”

 _Oh_ that _conversation_ , Ben thought. _Well he was fucked._

Sure enough, when Devi came outside again, he went slack jawed. The new dress was covered from top to bottom in gold beading, but most of her skin was bare. It was low cut in the front and the back with cutouts near her waist, and there was a slit that went pretty much all of the way up her left leg. Ben watched, mesmerized, as she adjusted the straps in the mirror.

She turned around without warning and caught him gaping, but he didn’t even care.

“ _Ben Gross thinks I look hot_ ,” she teased him in a sing song voice.

“Well I mean,” he said hoarsely, and then cleared his throat. “Like I said before, men are men.”

“Relax, dude I was kidding.”

“Right, um. Me too.”

“Nice try, Gross,” she winked at him before turning back to look in the mirror again. “God for a dress with so little fabric this is so heavy. These beads must weigh a ton.” She turned to the side and looked over her shoulder at herself. “Ugh I don’t know. Do you think it’s too much?”

“I think,” Ben said slowly, “if the goal is for nobody to ever call you the UN nickname again, this would do the trick.”

Devi felt her heart leap into her throat. Just a few hours ago, she heard Nick Jonas say her name, and somehow this conversation was still managing to feel like the most unbelievable thing to happen to her today. _Did Ben Gross just imply that he thought she looked_ fuckable _? What the fuck?_

Devi did not think she could deal with the heat flooding to her face for much longer, so she decided this could not be a dress she wore in public.

“In that case, then, I don’t think my mother would ever let me be seen in it,” she sighed, and she heard Ben let out a breath. _Relief? Disappointment?_ She couldn’t tell. Looking in the mirror one last time, she asked,

“Do me a favor though?”

“Yeah, what do you need?”

“Can you take my picture in it? I at least wanna show El and Fab how good I looked.”

“Uh yeah,” he took out his phone and she posed. He was silently grateful that the image of Devi in this dress wasn’t only going to live in his imagination. The three of them had a group chat that had used to plan the promposal, so he sent the pictures he’d just taken in there while he waited for Devi to re-emerge with the caption “Update from the front lines.”

Eleanor responder in record time:

“Plz tell me she said yes to that dress.”

“Unfortunately not. Said it would not be Nalini approved.”

 _Shit_ , he thought. _Had he really just said that it was_ unfortunate _that Devi hadn’t picked the sexy dress in a group chat with her closest friends?_ He quickly sent a second text:

“She just wanted to show you guys how good she looked in it.”

_Not helping, Gross._

“Her words, not mine,” he wrote in a third message.

Eleanor just sent back the “Sure Jan” gif, and Ben banged his head against the wall behind him. _Maybe Devi was right about how stupid he was._

“What’s the matter,” he heard Devi’s voice say. She had come out, unannounced, in a third dress. “Did you like lose a bet in your fantasy polo league or something?”

“What? No? Do you think that’s something I do?”

“I dunno, sounds like something someone who goes to a country club would do.”

“Does it?”

Devi shrugged, but mostly ignored his question, instead asking another one in response instead.

“How do we feel?” She extended her arms to present the dress to him.

 _Good question_ , Ben thought. This had been a confusing day for him. But he knew that wasn’t what she had meant, so he looked her up and down, slowly taking her in.

This one was different than the first two. It was a pale shade of blue, with off the shoulder sleeves, and a big puffy skirt.

Devi’s cheeks went red as he scanned her body, and they started to speak at the same time.

“I feel like a cupcake.”

“You look like a princess.”

They both paused, and then again at the same time, they both said,

“What?”

Ben went first. “Ok, I know by the way you said that it’s supposed to be a bad thing. But who doesn’t like cupcakes?”

“I dunno. When it comes to prom dresses the only thing that any high school guy cares about is how much of a girl’s boobs and ass are on display. Every other girl is gonna look like a Kardashian.”

Ben honestly would have agreed with her a few weeks ago. I mean it was obvious to anyone that he wasn’t dating Shira her brains. He knew for a fact that her prom dress was going to look a lot more like the gold one Devi had just had on. But he found that his heart rate was going just as fast as it had before when he looked at Devi now.

“But _you’ll_ look like Cinderella.”

“You think?”

“Listen. It’s totally not up to me which one you pick. But don’t feel like you have to wear something you can barely let out a breath in just because you think that’s what every other girl is gonna have on. Besides, they won’t be able to do this:”

He stood up from the bench slowly and took Devi’s hand in his own, twirling her around so that the dress made big circles around her legs.

Devi laughed, and he slowed the spinning. 

“OK I have to admit that was fun.”

“See? Being a cupcake has some benefits!”

“Or a princess?”

 _God, what was it with them and the eye contact today_ , Ben thought. Devi’s face was close to his, and with the way she was looking at him in this moment, he was sure he was going to just melt right into a puddle.

“Or a princess,” he affirmed softly.

All of a sudden, the sales lady from before appeared in front of them.

“You two sweethearts need anything?”

Ben quickly realized he was still holding Devi’s hand and quickly let his arm fall to his side.

“Uh, no” Devi answered. “Thank you. I think I’ve got everything I need right here.”

“I’ll say, the sales lady replied, winking at Ben in a way that made him slightly uncomfortable. “I mean with this young man around what more could you want, right hun?”

“Excuse me?” Devi was trying to be as polite as possible, but having missed this woman’s earlier conversation with Ben, she was very confused.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about me doll. I won’t try and steal him from you,” she sales lady joked. “But my goodness, hold on tight, cuz I bet all the girls your age are trying to snatch him up.”

Ben was somehow both flattered and creeped out by this woman. The two of them stayed quiet as she continued.

“He’s a keeper, love,” she said looked straight at Devi.

Then she turned her towards Ben. “And so is she, by the looks of it! My _goodness_ you’ve got yourself a pretty little thing there. She looks like a delicious little treat!”

“Like a cupcake?” Ben offered, barely holding back a laugh, knowing how much that comment was going to bug Devi.

“Oh exactly! Oh aren’t you two just the cutest thing.”

“OK well um. Like I said I think we’re alright here, so...” Devi was still not too sure what was happening, but she did know that she wanted this lady to leave.

“Oh of course, hun. Sorry to interrupt. You need anything just shout for Marjorie and I’ll be back here in a jiff.”

As soon as Devi was sure she was out of earshot, she turned to face Ben.

“Benjamin. Why does an old lady named Marjorie have a crush on you?”

“Jealous, David?”

“ _Ew_ , Ben.”

“She came over here before - when you were getting changed. She thinks you’re my girlfriend, and also that you wanna marry me.”

“What the _hell_ did you say that made her think that?”

“Nothing. I tried to tell her we weren’t even dating, but she wasn’t having it.”

“Ugh, whatever. I was kind of ready for her to start being racist about having to help an interracial couple or something, so I guess that was better. But still, she was super weird right?”

“Well-meaning, I think. But yeah totally weird.”

“OK, well, I’ve got one more. I’ll be back in a second.”

“Wait,” Ben said. “Do you want a picture of this one too?”

“Ooh yes. Actually - can you take a boomerang?”

“Sure, on my insta or yours?”

“ _Mmm_ , I don’t care. Yours. Tag me.”

He recorded the short video and then Devi went to change into the last dress. He watched the clip loop over and over again of her blowing a kiss at the camera as he tried to think of a caption.

“Dress shopping with my favorite person today,” he typed out instead. As he wrote it, he realized just how true it was. Trying to lighten it a little he added in parenthesis, “She’s a 50-something year old Southern lady named Marjorie and we’re deeply in love.” He topped it off with the winky kiss emoji, and boom.

As soon as he pressed post, he heard Devi calling out again from the changing room.

“Ben? I think I need help.”

“Is something wrong?”

There was a long pause before Devi spoke again.

“The zipper’s stuck.” Another pause. “I’m coming out.”

_It wasn’t possible for Devi to look more beautiful than Ben had already seen her look today, so he couldn’t possibly need to brace himself, right?_

He looked up. _Fuck._

The dress was red.

She broke their long stare and pointed towards the zipper.

“It’s just um. Here. The angle - I couldn’t quite get it…”

Ben walked over, and she turned her back to him so he could see where she meant. They were both facing the mirror now.

Devi sucked in a breath that she was attributing to the need to unstick her zipper but was, in actuality, an involuntary response to having Ben so close. His left hand was placed on the silky fabric over her hip, his thumb pressing gently into the small of her back. His right hand slowly - _tantalizingly_ \- traced a straight line up her back. The dress left her shoulder blades exposed, and as he reached the top of the zipper, she felt his fingers brush over her bare skin for a moment, and goosebumps appeared all over her forearms.

Ben peered over Devi’s shoulder at her reflection in front of them, his hand still resting on her hip.

“Ok I know I said it wasn’t up to me, and it’s not, but I think this is it, David,” he said softly.

“Really?” They turned their heads towards each other, and their faces were even closer than they had been after he’d spun her around earlier. Devi thought she might stop breathing. Ben was pretty sure he already had.

Ben couldn’t help but be honest when they were in this position. “If you feel as beautiful as you look right now? Then definitely.”

Devi let the corners of her mouth turn up. She bit her lip in contemplation as she looked back to the mirror.

“I think you’re right,” she said, putting her hand on top of his. “Don’t let that go to your head by the way,” she quickly added, once again trying to break the tension between them, but Ben wasn’t ready to let go just yet.

“A picture for the road?” he asked, holding up his phone, still looking at her through the mirror.

“Yeah, sure. You can be in this one, if you want. Just send it to the girls, though, in case I do wind up wearing it. 

He snapped the photo, and she went to go get changed. Ben stared at the two of them on his phone screen. He was smiling into the mirror, and Devi had turned her face ever so slightly up towards his own. Ben almost didn’t want to share the picture with Eleanor and Fabiola. It felt _too_ private. But he knew that Devi would kill him if he didn’t show them the dress she had decided on, and this was the only image he’d taken.

He sent it in their group chat. “Think she found the one,” he wrote.

A minute later, Eleanor had written back:

“Yeah, looks like she has.”

Ben didn’t catch her meaning, but she hadn’t been talking about the dress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Stay tuned for a post-shopping mess of emotions coming atcha in chapter 6 :)


	6. friday, slightly later in the afternoon, 6.25 days before prom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“Devi,” he said slowly, “I don’t think you should say things like that to people when you don’t really mean them.”_  
>  She took a deep breath. No point in trying to get out of this conversation now, she thought. Not when she had accidentally walked them straight into it. Before her feelings of bravery disappeared, she put her hand on his forearm so that he would look up at her.  
> “Who says I don’t mean them?” 
> 
> Ben and Devi have a good ole fashioned parking lot heart to heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> OK so for a number of reasons, this chapter is both a lil late and a lil short, so my apologies on both those fronts. BUT I hope you enjoy anyway! 
> 
> Also: I haven’t plugged my tumblr on here ever bc I basically stopped using my main a while back and the blog that I _do_ use is pretty much just for political things (@dogsofthepod, if that’s your thing) but I have enjoyed chatting w you guys on here so I made a *new* sideblog (ik, ik a new tumblr in 2020 is a ~choice~ but here we are!) with the same username as on here (@boylebingo) – totally come say hey!!!

After checking out at the dress shop _(“You two be sure to come back here when he finally pops the question,”_ Marjorie had been sure to say before they left), Devi and Ben made their way back to the parking lot with her new back-up prom dress. Despite the fact that literally nothing had changed about him or his car since he had driven them here, Ben still spent an inordinate amount of time adjusting his seat and mirrors before he was willing to pull out of the spot.

“Damn, Gross I didn’t think you could get any shorter but here we are after not even 3 hours and you can’t even reach the gas pedal anymore.”

“David, you don’t even have your license, so if you would be so kind as to shut the hell up about my driving, that would be great.”

She laughed, but as she was trying not to make fun of his overabundance of caution, a somewhat uncomfortable silence settled over his car.

“Thanks for taking me today,” she said, needing to interrupt the feeling that the vehicle was shrinking slowly with the two of them stuck inside.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” he said, turning to flash a smile at her, finally finishing whatever pre-departure rituals he had been completing. “But I do have to apologize, because after today, I can’t go through with this plan anymore."

"What?" 

“Marjorie asked me to take her to prom instead of you while you were changing and I couldn’t say no,” he said, laughing.

“You. Absolute. _Dick_. Fuck. You.” Devi punched his arm in between each word as she said this, but she was smiling now too. When she finished this light beating, she joked, “I can’t believe she would do this to me after promising that I had nothing to worry about."

“I know, right? For the number of times she suggested you went to look at _veils_ , you’d think respect you enough not to ask out your _fiancé-to-be_.”

“Oh man, that was totally weird. I _can’t_ believe she _actually_ thought we were _in love_.”

Ben knew Devi wasn’t trying to make him feel bad on purpose when she said things like that, but they were a real sucker punch to the gut.

“Yeah, right. Could you imagine?” He tried to say this with enough incredulity in his voice that his disbelief became believable, but even _he_ knew that he was hardly pulling it off.

“I mean I guess I can't _really_ blame her after she saw you making googly eyes at me when I tried on that gold dress,” she said, nudging him playfully with her elbow.

“I was _not._ ”

“Oh, you _totally_ were. It’s ok, though. I mean if we had gone tux shopping together after making out in front of the whole school, I probably would have been able to convince myself that you weren't half-bad looking too.”

 _Shit,_ she thought. _She hadn’t meant to bring that up now._

“Devi,” he said slowly, “I don’t think you should say things like that to people when you don’t really mean them.”

She took a deep breath. _No point in trying to get out of this conversation now,_ she thought. _Not when she had accidentally walked them straight into it._ Before her feelings of bravery disappeared, she put her hand on his forearm so that he would look up at her.

“Who says I don’t mean them?”

“I mean it’s fine, you don’t have to pretend _now_. None of this is supposed to be real, right? The singing, the flirting,” he gulped “the kissing?”

“I guess so,” Devi replied, trying to choose her words carefully; she wasn’t too sure where Ben was taking this and she couldn’t help feeling like she had insulted him without meaning to somehow.

“So when nobody’s watching, we don’t need to do...” Ben wasn’t sure exactly how to phrase what he wanted to say. “all that,” he settled on, gesturing vaguely towards her hand on his arm. “I think it’ll just make everything too...” and for the second time in a row, he found himself not sure how to continue. _What he wanted to say was too real, too emotional, too much for him to handle when he knew she’d never like him back._ “...too confusing.”

“Oh,” was all that Devi could think to say at first, pulling her hand back. After a moment, she continued, “Don’t you think things are already a little _confusing_?” She put the same emphasis on the last word as he had, knowing that he had meant at least a hundred different things when he had said it. 

Ben let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.

“Yes,” was all he managed to say. “I do.”

“I just think it’s gonna be kind of tough for us to pretend that nothing happened this time, when the whole school was watching.”

 _I don't want to pretend,_ Ben felt like screaming. But he bit his tongue.

“Well. I guess we don’t _technically_ have to pretend nothing happened... I mean everyone thinks we’re like, _together_ now. Which was the whole point of this to begin with, right? I mean I know it’s gone a little farther than we meant it to,” _U_ _nderstatement of the year,_ he thought. “but all we really have to do is keep acting like we’re madly in love or whatever for another couple days, and then I don’t know. We post something saying we realized we're better off as friends like all the couples from the Bachelor do when they break up after the show, and then everyone will stop giving a shit and you and Paxton can still go to prom together?”

At this last part, he noticed Devi perk up a bit from her slouched position in the passenger seat.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense. I just had fun today, I didn’t want things to have to be weird.”

“Then let's not let things be weird," he smiled weakly. 

“Hey,” she then said, turning her body towards his and giving him a conspiratorial grin. “I was thinking. Paxton’s friend is having a party tomorrow night at their house – I’m still in some of their group chats,” she explained. “It would be a good place for the whole 'convincing people we're a thing' thing. You wanna go?”

“Like together?”

“Yeah, if you wanted? I mean, full disclosure - I already invited Marjorie and told her it was our engagement party,” she added, making him laugh and finally breaking the tension between them. 

“Oh, so kind of you to forgive her for trying to seduce me." 

"It's the least I could do," she smiled. "So what do you say then?"

"I say let's go trick some teens." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so in case you couldn’t tell next chap is gonna be party time :) I’m excited to write that one so stay tuned and it’ll hopefully be up sometime late next week (we’re setting more realistic deadlines this time lmao) 
> 
> As always, thank you all again for your comments & kudos, it means so much to hear your thoughts!


End file.
